Congressional Negotiators Announce Budget Ahead of Schedule

Posted on Dec 10, 2013

Not only did Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., manage to reach a budget deal, but they did it ahead of schedule.

The House is expected to vote on the compromise Friday, with the Senate following up next week. President Obama gave the deal his seal of approval.

The compromise will cut from government worker and military pensions in order to offset some cuts forced by sequestration. Additional spending cuts will be spread out over 10 years.

It’s not exactly thrilling news, from a progressive point of view, but at least we’re spared the endless quarterly standoffs, with their potential for government shutdown and default.

Here’s an odd fact: The two people negotiating the nation’s budget between them represent about 2 percent of the nation’s population, mostly Washingtonians (the population of Paul Ryan’s district is just over 670,000).

Back to the compromise: Ryan, quoted by Reuters, put it this way, “In divided government, you don’t always get what you want.”